Ryan Mayer
The Seattle Mariners hopes of breaking their playoff drought took a bit of a hit last week when news broke that the league was suspending star second baseman Robinson Cano for 80 games due to a violation of the league’s PED policy . Cano tested positive for the diuretic furosemide, which is a banned substance under league policy. However, it only triggers an automatic suspension if the league can prove that the player used it with the intent of it being a masking agent.
Later in the week, Cano’s former teammate with the New York Yankees, Mark Teixeira, told ESPN 98.7 in New York that he wasn’t surprised by the suspension.
“Let’s just use this situation here. Robbie Cano’s assistant was on the list for Biogenesis,” Teixeira said, referring to the clinic at the center of MLB’s 2013 PED scandal. “Now, of course, [he] had an assistant, you know, buy stuff for him. Alex Rodriguez got popped by Biogenesis, and [former Yankees outfielder] Melky [Cabrera] got popped. They were best friends. When someone gets lumped into that group, it’s because there’s evidence. There’s a paper trail. There’s a smoke trail.”
The Mariners, for their part, have continued to win, currently riding a three-game winning streak into their series with the Athletics beginning on Tuesday. At 27-19, the Mariners are in second place in the A.L. West.
While Cano made news for the wrong reasons, St. Louis Cardinals right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks made headlines Sunday with his performance on the field. The 21-year-old fired five pitches all above 103.7 miles per hour, with a pair topping out at 105, to Phillies centerfielder Odubel Herrera in the Cardinals 5-1 win. The 105.1 m.p.h. pitch from Hicks is the fastest this year, and he becomes just the second player to hit 105 on the radar gun, along with Yankees flamethrower Aroldis Chapman. For more on Hicks, Cano, and the rest of the big stories in baseball this week, check out the video above.